Process of making rubber-sole stock



E. w; DUNBAR El AL PROCESS OF IAKING RUBBER SOLE STOCK Sept. 23, 1930..

2 Shoots-Sheet 1 Filed June 20, 1924 Sept. 23, 1930. a. w. DUNBAR Er AL PROCESS OF IAKING' RUBBER SOLE STOCK 2 Shots-Sheet 2 Filed June 20, 1924 heel end of the sole.

Patented Sept. 22;, 1.930

UNITED sures-.-

PATENT OFFICE manner w, DUNBAB, or HUDSON, AND nnmimn :r. DEMPSEY, or wns'r mnnrom), uassaonusnr'rs, assmnons 'ro cammrnen RUBBER COMPANY, or caunnmon, nassncnvsnr'rs, "A conrona'non or massacnusn'r'rs PROCESS 'OF MAKING, RUBBER-SOLE STOCK Application filed J'une-20,'1924. Serial No. 721,300.

It is customary to cut the soles for various kinds of rubber soled shoes out of sheeted necessary for the forepart of the sole, and

of a greater thickness at the margin for the This sole stock is usually built up of plies or sheets of rubber which are pressed together and united to form a sheet of the required thickness. It has been customary heretofore to makethis rubber sheet stock' by a batch process. A,

common practicehas hleenf to place sheets of rubber one upon the ot erto build u a rubber body of. suitable thickness for t e forepart of the sole, and'then to add one or more additional plies of rubber .to one margin of the. strip to increase the thickness of this portion of the strip suliiciently for end of the sole. v This process is open to the: objection that it is'relatively slow, it re uires considerable space for the storing an handling of the stock, and it involves a eat deal of hand labor. It is the chief ob ect of'the present the heel invention, therefore, to improve both the processes of making rubber sole stock andv also the apparatus used for this purpose with a view to expediting this operation and reducing the-manufacturing expense.

It is a particularobject of-the invention to I I guide roll 20, and'thenceover another flanged guide roll 22 .where it meets the other narrow i .form of apparatus for practicing *this process. A

The nature of the invention Wlll. be readily understood from the iollowin description when read inconnection witi the acc'ompanying drawin and the novel fea-' tures will be particu arlyp'ointed out in the Figure 1 is a plan view, somewhat diaended claims.

eferring now to the'drawmgs,

ammatic, of an apparatus embodying this invention; f Fig. 2 is a side View ofrthe apparatus shown inFig. 1; and Fi 3, 4 and 5 are cross sectional views on ti: lines 3-3, 4-4, and 5-5, respectively, Fig. 2. Y

in to the The composition of the rubber compound. from which the stock is made may be of any suitable character, audit may be prepared and sheeted in the usual manner. In the drawings the numeral 2 designatesone of the rollsof a rubbermill or calender in which this sheeting operation is performed 1n the customer manner, the sheet issuing from the mill belng shown at a, b, c. Accordreferred process, this sheet is sp it immediately after it leaves the calender rolls b means of sharp edged rolls or cutters, suc as those indicated at 4-4.-, Fig. 3, these cutters being in addition to the usual edge trimming cutters 'whic employed, and which are;

-fshown. In

. the present instance the sheetis divided into ling apron or conteyor 6supported on rolls 5 8' and 10, andthe strip a passesofi the end of this apron and on to a conveyor-belt 12, one end 0 which'is supported on a roll 14.

' The narrow strip a is superposed upon the strip b and for t-h1s purpose it is led over an so idler roll16 and-a conical roll '18 to a, flanged strip 6. The rolls just mentioned are all supported on a table 24 under which the apron 6 travels, and the strip b rests on the apron until just before it. reaches the roll 22. The movement of the strip a into alinement with the strip -b is facilitated by the use of the conical roll 18 which, due to the difference in 9Q diameters of the'parts thereof engaged by the strip and to the inclination of the axis of the roll, tends to shift the strip laterally. The guiding of the stripgfurth'er is facilitated by the flanges on the ends of the roll 20. Both of the strips a and b, while still maintaining their supe osed relationship, nexttravel off the end of t e apron 6, are guided around another conical 'roll 26 and are brought up under the margin of the strip 0 at-about the '100 may be 65 ofa..heellift, w ile 70 The steps of the process up to this point are; indicated in Fi s. 3, 4 and 5, Fig. 3 showing the sheet of rub er as it is split or divided by the cutters 4-4 into the threestrips a, b and c, Fig. 4 showing the relative positions of these strips after the strip a has been superposed on the strip 6, and Fig. 5 illustrating the relationship after the two superposed strips a and b have'been secured on the margin of the main strip a. Preferably the cutters H which divide the sheet of rubberinto strips are arranged to bevel-the edges of the strips 0 and b, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, so that when these strips are assembled, as shown in Figs. 4. and 5, the bevelled edges will register and give the inclination desired for the forwardor breast edge of the heel, these bevelled edges lying inwardly away from the right-hand edge, Fig. 5, of the main strip a toward the opposite edge of said strip 0.

In some cases it is desirable to add another ply of rubber to those alread assembled, and

this additional sheet of rub ermay hear an embossing, or may consists ofcrepe rubber, or be of a diiferent character from that of the other plies previously assembled. Such a ply is indicated at d in Fig. 5, and it is designed to form the outer surface of the shoe sole.. This additional or outer strip (1 may be either unwound from the roll or supplied from another calender, if the nature of the material permits-- Fig. 2 shows the strip d being guided over a roll 30 and meeting the strips (1 and 6 just before they come in contact with the strip 0. All of thesestrips are then pressed together'by rolls 32, 3,4 and 36,]the roll 32 being located in advance of the other two rolls and .pressing the sheets 0 and d together immediately. in front of the bevelled edges of the strips a and b. This pressure also see es the strip (Z to said bevelled edges.

The roll 3 ins on the part of thecomposite strip which includes the strips a and b,while the roll 36 bears on the opposite margin, all three of the rolls being held against the stock by'springpre'ssure so that the plies are'united securely together;

The stock is discharged at the upper or de-' livery end of the conveyor 12 where. it is cut' up'into suitable lengths for subsequent delivery to' the machines which cut out the soles. In cutting out the soles the usual practice is followed, the soles being cut transversely of the strip so that the-forepart and shank of the sole are of a thickness equal to the com-- bined thicknesses'of the plies o and d, Fig. 5,

While the-heel end of the sole has a thickness equal to that of all, four plies of stock.

. It will be evident that this process is entirely continuous, it eliminates much of the handling that has been required by theprocesses previously used,- and it is considerably more economical of floor space.- The fact that all handling of the stock is eliminated between the calender and the point at which the sheeted stock is cut up into sections ready for the sole cutting operation, effects a very substantial economy in manufacturing cost over-prior processes.

It will-readily be appreciated that the procin weight or 'thlckness being necessary in dif- 7 ferent shoes. The invention is particularly valuable in the manufacture of crepe rubber soleing It will also be understood that the apparatus shown may be modified in many particulars without \departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. For example, the conical rolls 18 and 26 may be replaced by cylindrical rolls having end flanges. While we have herein shown a convenient form of apparatus for practicing the process devised by this invention, it is contemplated that theprocess may be practiced with the aid of a great variety of forms, of apparatus.

Having thus described our, invention, what we desire to claim as new is:

1. That improvement in the process of ,making rubber sole stock for shoes, which consists in feeding three continuous strips of rubber stock, one of said strips being at least aswide as the lengthof the soles to be cut therefrom, the other strips being approxir'nately equalin width to the length of heel lifts and having theiredges bevelled, superposing said narrow strips one upon the other with said. bevels re istering, securing said superposed strips to one margin of the re-' maining strip with said bevelled edges lying toward the opposite edge of the latter strip, and performing said superposing and securing operations while continuing the feeding'movements of all of said strips uninterruptedly.

2. In an apparatus for making rubber sole stock, the combination ofa machine for working a rubber compound into the form of a continuous sheet, a travelling apron for feeding said sheet away-from said machine, means for cutting said sheet into two continuous strips, one of said strips being at least as wide as the length of the soles to be cut therefrom, and the other at least as wide as the length of the heel lifts for said soles,-

thereupon with the bevelled edge of -the narrow strip lying inwardly toward site edge of the wide strip. v I 3. In an apparatus foe making rubber the opposole stock, the combination of a machine for 'workinga rubber compound into the form of a continuous sheet, a travelling apron for feeding said sheet away from said machine, means for cutting said sheet. to form two narrow strips and a wide strip, and devices for guiding said narrow strips to superpose one upon the other and to press both of them upon the margin of said wide strip.

4. In an ap aratusfor making rubber sole stock, the com ination of a machine for working a rubber compound into the form of a continuous sheet, means for feeding said sheet away from the machine, means for cutting said sheet into continuous strips, one

of'said strips being substantially wider than the other, and guiding devices including rolls for guiding said narrowstrip into superposed relationship to the margin of the wide strip and causing said strips to adhere to each other. a i

5. In an apparatus for making rubber sole stock, the combination of a machine for working a rubber compound into the form of a continuous sheet, means for feeding said sheet away from the machine, means for cutting said sheet into continuous strips, one of said strips being at least as wide as the length of a shoe sole and the other substantially as'wide as the length of the heel for said sole, and means including a conical roll for guiding said narrow strip into superposed relationship to the wide strip and causing it to adhere to the marginal portion of the latter strip.

"6. In an apparatus for making rubber sole stock, the combination of a machine for working a rubber compound intov the form of a continuous sheet, means for feeding said sheet away from the machine, means for outtindg' said'sheet into two narrow strips and a wi e strip, guiding devices including a conica'l roll for guiding one of said narrow strips into superposed relationship to the other narrow strip, additional means including a conical roll for guiding the superposed narrow strips upon themargin of the wide strip, androlls for pressing all of said strips together.

In testimony "whereof we have hereunto signed our names to this specification.

ERNEST W. DUNBAR.

EDMUND J. DEMPSEY. 

